THE COLUMBIA JAY. 
287 
twigs and the foliage around, and meeting in its 
I'i'thi ti le patriarch of the forest, lays him prostrate on 
le ground. For years the massy trunk lies extended 
^ the earth ; but it is seen gradually giving way. The 
Jhtuner’s sun and the winter’s frost crumble it into 
j t "*t, which goes to augment the soil. And thus has 
finished its course. 
“ Look again at the egg of the bird, dropped on its 
' llr ious bed, the construction of which has cost the 
™ r ent bird many labours and anxieties. It also is a 
; e ®d, but it gives' rise to a very different object. Fos- 
"hid by the warmth imparted by the parent bird, the 
r p tti which it contains swells into life, and, at length 
^fating its fragile enclosure, conies tottering into 
jfistence. To sustain the life and contribute to the 
I 'elopment of this helpless being, the mother issues 
quest of food, which she carefully places in its open 
Jfifiat. Day after day it acquires new development 
i*‘fier the fostering care of its nurse, until at length, 
h'sted with all the powers which nature intended to 
^tow upon it, it spreads its pinions to the breeze, and 
forth to perform the many offices for which it is 
Vined. 
n “ How often have I watched over the little bird in its 
and marked the changes which day after day it 
j’fihbited ; the unfolding of its first scanty covering of 
v°' v n, the sprouting of its plumelets, the general enlarge- 
ment of all its parts! With what pleasure have I 
. 1(! " ed the development of its colouring and the early 
®nifestations of its future habits ! ” 
14 . co nr us bullocxij, aueubon. 
^ 4i <RULUS ULTBAMA1UXUS OF BONAP THE COLUMBIA JAT. 
AUDUBON, PLATE XCVI. 
1 Tats general colour of this new species of crow is 
Ij'ght blue, with purple reflections ; the foreneck and 
, ‘hrior part of the breast, black ; the rest of the under 
"kts, white; length, thirty-one inches; across the 
